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Three wins for Venus, Serena at Beijing Olympics; Federer, Nadal advance
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12/08/2008 11:36:00 AM $ l8 p& b ^4 N8 @) G4 f Z) B: g! C
2 b" [/ L3 [* n2 O% `: fBEIJING - Even by the lofty standards of the Williams sisters, three victories at the Olympics is a good day's work.4 F7 j$ Q8 L: B" M% G
# q; x4 i& l+ n" K$ sThey won in singles and doubles Tuesday, and the toughest match was the one they played together. Venus and Serena rallied in first-round doubles to beat Iveta Benesova and Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. ! @, N" e9 w0 i, R: H; p
' T' c$ }' }, V* iEarlier, the Williamses won second-round singles matches. Serena beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-2, 6-0, and Venus swept Benesova 6-1, 6-4. ) k2 n4 j9 C$ w( p3 Q7 d+ ]# Y* B
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The sisters could meet in Saturday's singles final. . `0 d( ^7 D8 E7 L
8 ]% }. r7 ~ f" D2 y"That would be fantastic," Venus said. "Obviously, it's a long ways away, but the third round makes it closer. I'm really excited for both of us to be playing really well for the U.S."
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4 D2 s& U1 [, P" T2 v& RIn men's singles, No. 1-seeded Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal moved one round closer to renewing their rivalry in Sunday's final. / r8 Q( b& E/ I# d* q% u+ L& t
. a$ O) q) c% a1 B6 IFederer beat Rafael Arevalo of El Salvador 6-2, 6-4. Rafael Nadal sustained his summer surge by defeating Australian Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-2.
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0 ]) ]2 }; U: f& a" T"Very happy about my performance," Nadal said. "I think I play one of my best matches in the last weeks on hard court."
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6 w0 M1 Y& V' @& T9 m! ?- RThis year's French Open and Wimbledon champion, Nadal is assured of climbing to No. 1 in the rankings next week, ending Federer's 4 1/2-year reign.
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Nadal and Federer seek their first Olympic medal, while the Williamses are trying to add to the family collection. They won the gold in doubles at Sydney in 2000, and Venus won the singles that year.
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"I've never played singles at the Olympics, so this has been really cool for me," Serena said. "Every time I walk out there, it's like I'm playing in my match, but at the same time I have the whole U.S. team on my side. It's good. I really like that feeling." % a& k; w3 a U6 `! e, [7 c" N* h
% P+ z+ K! d% @6 C; ]: NTeammates Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber won their first-round doubles match, beating Klaudia Jans and Alicja Rosolska of Poland 6-2, 6-1. Davenport said a knee injury that forced her to withdraw from singles last week didn't bother her in the match. |
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